Friday, July 26, 2019

Friday's Faces from the Past ~ Little Boy Lost to Time

(As part of the "Friday’s Faces from the Past" daily prompt suggested by Smadar Belkin Gerson of Past-Present-Future)


This little boy was in an old photo album of my paternal grandmother, along with many other photos from her family that I was able to identify. I didn't know my grandfather's side of the family as well, however I was able to identify a few of his family members in some of the photos, too.

But this photo has me stumped. My grandfather and his siblings were all born at the turn of the century and the decade following. He looks similar enough to Grandpa's brother in another photograph, that it could be my great-uncle.


The little boy on the left is my great-uncle, Lonnie, in this photo.  However, the similarities are generic in nature to me, and not conclusive.

If I can identify the cute little boy above as Uncle Lonnie, then mystery solved. 

If not, then who is this lone little boy in the photograph? 

I am saddened to say that my father and his parents have passed away, and I cannot ask them.  I have asked at family reunions (her side), but am not in touch with my grandfather's side to ask.

So, where do I go for help? What resources should I try? What do you do with old family photographs such as this?

If you can help with any of my questions, I would love to hear your comments!

10 comments:

  1. I'm in the same boat. I look froward to reading the other comments.

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    1. Laura, hopefully, we both will get the answers we need!

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  2. I also have unidentified photos and am not sure how to get them identified. Good luck identifying your picture.

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    1. Thank you! I hope you you are able to get yours identified, too!

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  3. You might try consulting Maureen Taylor at https://maureentaylor.com/ I paid her to do a consult on one of my mystery photos at a genealogy conference. Although we could not identify the person, she provided valuable insights on the period and type of photo, which were helpful in narrowing down possibilities.

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    1. Thank you for that suggestion! I will have to check out her website. Just narrowing down the possibilities would help.

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  4. Agree, Maureen Taylor is a great resource. Suggest too that you look for living relatives of any further off cousins in that line. Another copy or a similar photo could be in a further off album.

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  5. Thank you, Diane! I will be checking out Maureen's website that Molly mentioned above. My educated guess is that it is from my paternal grandfather's side, and this is mostly a brick wall. Out of the five children pictured above, only two of them had children, or had them survive to adulthood. My siblings and first cousins have no idea. And we have lost touch with the other family, and their chidren.

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  6. I love seeing old family photographs and it is so sad when they are not identified, as the photographs must have meant something to someone a long time ago. Have you thought of contacting a local family history society where your family lived to see if any of their members can help.? Good luck!




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    1. Sue, I agree, it is sad. In regards to the local historical society, I have contacted them. I lived most of my life in the same town. They do not know who is in this unidentified photo, or several more that I have.Thanks for the good suggestion!

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